Report: Microsoft looking to bring 'Heroes' to Xbox as original content

Microsoft has been pushing to get the next Xbox into the TV space, but a new report out of Hollywood suggests the company is looking at bringing...

Microsoft has been pushing to get the next Xbox into the TV space. It has been increasing the amount of TV apps it adds to the console, and recently sold Mediaroom to focus its entertainment efforts on the Xbox. But a new report out of Hollywood suggests the company is looking at bringing back an old TV show as original programming.

TVLine (via Polygon) cites sources that say Microsoft is in talks with NBC Universal to bring the defunct superhero show Heroes to the Xbox as an original show "with new stories and heroes, while mixing in cameos from the original series' cast (schedules and interest permitting)." It characterizes the talks as being "in the preliminary stages."

This comes on the heels of Microsoft's creation in February of Xbox Entertainment Studios in Los Angeles, headed by former CBS Entertainment boss Nancy Tellem. She recently said that the studio plans to invest in premium content, hoping to bring some of it to users before the end of 2013.

More content providers are entering original programing. Both Netflix and Hulu have recently crossed into producing original shows. Microsoft's Xbox TV has been among the consoles helping push those services onto television screens, so Microsoft pushing its own original content would put it in competition with some of its strategic partners.